What NOT To Post On Social Media: A Quick Q+A

Hello friends! Today, I asked across my social media channels for your questions about all things social! Thanks to everyone who sent them in -- these were really fun to answer!

"Do you have any rules about what you will and will NOT post on social media?"

Do post:

Your interests (fashion, gaming, music, etc)

Your emotions! Vulnerability is so important in the sea of editing!

Live coverage of events you're a part of!

Anything that doesn't harm/offend anyone!

Don't post

Politics (unless that is something you're passionate about and want other people to read)

Your address and personal information

Anything fake (now, we all edit our photos a little bit, but just make sure you don't go overboard)

Anything that others didn't give you permission to post

Other tips:

If you post someone else's content, you must tag them in it!

Post daily if you can -- but don't go overboard!

Post different content across channels -- making people interested in following you across platforms

Q: "Difference between IGTV and IG stories"

Great question! IGTV was just integrated into Instagram over the summer. Basically, IGTV is a response to the popularity of Youtube. Instagram is attempting to make vertical video the next big thing. You can start an IGTV channel where you post vertical video of whatever you'd like. This is tough because the rest of the world runs on landscape video, but if you have landscape video that you've already created, you can just post it either zoomed in or turned to be vertical.

On the other hand, IG stories is a response to the popularity of Snapchat Stories and has actually surpassed the daily users of Snapchat stories. You can post content there that is up for 24 hours and can include a bunch of fun stickers and other features like questions and polls. Very very fun! I personally love it!

They are very different channels but both present opportunities to create content other than what's on your IG feed. I would suggest focusing on IG stories while IGTV slowly gains popularity.

Q: "How do I motivate myself to consistently make content?"

I answered this on my IG stories a few weeks ago, but I would say there are two very important things you can do:

1) Follow people that inspire you: Following other people will not only give you new ideas for your own content, but engaging with them could lead to new collaborations + maybe even some new followers! Solid engagement never hurts!

2)Surround yourself with people that will inspire you to keep creating: Find that friend that will take your picture a 100 times or help you set up that flatlay.

Q: "How to balance being yourself and being professional?"

Wow, this a really great question! First off, this might be a given, but don't post anything too scandalous! Whether you're trying to have a professional account or not, you don't want to post anything you'll regret posting later (Future employers might look you up). Also, you can strategically be yourself in your professional account!

I have a few tactics in mind that could help you showcase your personality in a "professional account"

Captions are key: So if you are strictly trying to post professional content (like something in your preferred industry), personal content might mess up your grid. But I would say get personal in the captions! Write maybe a simple caption and then put a space/line and then write a little something personal. This can help people jump into your world if they want to. If you have a blog you can always lead them there.

Authentically engage: I would say that your content no matter your profession, you should definitely show your personality! A way to showcase yourself and increase traffic onto your account is engagement! Spend some time and engage with others! Write really strong comments and showcase your thoughts/humor/interest there as well! People will not only enjoy that engagement, but it will lead to them engaging on your account.

Make personal stuff a part of your professional account: Set aside Sundays or something like that and have that be your personal posting day. Maybe post a photo you took that week and then in the caption talk about whatever personal stuff you want to bring up! Also, you can utilize IG stories to showcase your personal life -- it will go away in 24 hours (or you can make it a highlight)!

Thanks everyone for sending in your questions! Let me know via social or in the comments if you have any particular questions!